


A Surged Ripple

by buggy347



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: 2020 L'Manberg Election on Dream Team SMP (Video Blogging RPF), Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, As is normal, Communicates better but still not the best, Did I mention there's angst?, Disk Saga, Dream is a dick, Fic touches up on that, Fix-It, Fleshed Out Characters, He's just Phil's friend, If you explain Time Travel to someone would they go insane?, It's developed more in this fic, No Dream apologist here, Otherwise he wouldn't be tommy, Post-TommyInnit's Exile (Video Blogging RPF), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, SBI family dynamics, So his character is a bit changed, Some things not canon compliant, Sorry Wilbur but your mother is not a fridge, Sorry but i can't write his stutters, Techno is an anarchist but more in theory?, Technoblade not family, Time Travel Fix-It, Tommy is a bit refocused in this, Well there's angst, also violence is a bit descriptive, anarchy doesn't work in practice, and there's definitely violence, eventually, lots of hugs, lots of trauma, sbi family angst - Freeform, some introspection, tommy and Tubbo deserve better
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 10:54:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30054369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buggy347/pseuds/buggy347
Summary: When Awesamdude finds a mysterious portal, that by all accounts seems to be a fast travel to a specific point in the dream SMP's past, Tommy and Tubbo are faced with the chance to help right all of their past wrongs. They could save Wilbur, L'manberg, save the others from the devastation and carnage that would ransack the server.But, they were still just teenagers, could they even manage to change their future so drastically and not be overwhelmed by their own trauma?
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Darryl Noveschosch & Sapnap, Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Niki | Nihachu & Wilbur Soot, Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 35





	1. Mystery Portal

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic has will diverge from canon so fast but also still have certain plot elements introduced into the later portions of the SMP. There's going to be so much angst though I cannot stress enough. And lack of communication is still present here. It wouldn't be Dream SMP without lack of communication you know? 
> 
> Also before we get into this, you can be aware of a an idea without being aware of the theory that follows the idea. Important for some conversations that will happen eventually. 
> 
> Also I have absolutely no idea where this fic is going to go, I just want to write angst.

Sam frowned as he stared at the looming structure in front of him. He wasn't sure when it had appeared, after all, it was pretty out of the way. He only noticed it as he had gone out a bit further than normal to find some resources for the prison and keeping up the security. The structure seemed to be a portal, but it wasn't like any nether portal that he had ever come across. Sure, some could be different shapes and sizes. But, all nether portals were still characterized by their obsidian borders and purple glow that illuminated their surroundings. But, the portal in front of him was made of a resource he had never seen before with odd inscriptions on the sides. And, instead of a familiar purple glow, within the border of the strange rock, it seemed to glow a bright green. 

It had taken months of researching through the texts he had already acquired, and searching for new ones in abandoned mineshafts, and different structures within the nether. But, he believed that he could safely say that the different symbols that were etched into the portal signified a jump through time. In other words, time travel. And, if he was correct, it seemed to be time travel to the recent past. He couldn't tell for certain, but he figured it was somewhere around the founding of L'manberg to the end of the war of Pogtopia vs. Manberg that it could possibly teleport the sender to. 

He had quit researching it when they had locked up Dream, but recently he went back to looking into it, curious as to what other purpose the mysterious portal might serve and how they could best utilize it. 

That was why, against his better judgement to involve them, he brought Tubbo and Tommy. He didn't want them to have to deal with something else. After all, they had just locked up Dream in prison and had already been through so much, even though they were just children. But, if there was even a chance that maybe someone could help change the server by changing the past, those two were the best ones for the job. After all, they HAD been through a lot. They'd been at the very center of all of the conflict during the time that the portal seemed to be sending people back to. If anyone could help change the course of events at the time, it was them. And he knew Tommy wanted Wilbur back. But, maybe instead of resurrecting him, he could keep him from dying in the first place. And maybe L'manberg could become something that didn't become a crater all the way down to bedrock.

"So, why did you call us all the way out here Sam?" Tommy asked, him and Tubbo walking up to where he was standing. Tommy was wearing the construction outfit that Sam Nook - or well, Sam in a cheap Tom Nook mask - had instructed him to wear when on the build sight for the hotel. Meanwhile Tubbo was wearing full netherite armor, if he remembered correctly, it was actually Dream's and the set was the one the man had been wearing on the fateful day where he almost killed Tubbo and imprisoned Tommy. "Come on man, spit it out already. I have a hotel to build." Tommy whined impatiently. Sam didn't bother to remind him that it was actually 'Sam Nook' that was building the hotel. The whole point of that shindig was to try to get Tommy to actively gather materials for himself to take notice of the reward that hard work could give him. It was a slow going process, but that was to be expected. It was also another big reason why he didn't want to send those two to the past. There were a lot of problems back then. Even if they managed to maybe stop the Manberg vs Pogtopia war and save Wilbur from himself. Dream was still a threat then. Tommy wouldn't have the disks in the past. There were just so many things that could possibly go wrong. Not to mention, he didn't know enough about the portal in front of him to tell what exactly would happen. He was assuming that the time travel would be to their direct past which would thus change the present completely. But, it could send them to the past and veer off into a new reality, leaving this one without Tommy or Tubbo, and with no one knowing the truth of what happened to them besides himself. 

"I called you here because a few months ago when I was collecting resources for the prison, I found this portal. Long story short, after countless nights of research and digging for different tomes about what it was, I discovered that the carvings on it were describing it as a sort of gate that one could travel through time with. If I correctly translated some of the words, it supposedly would send you back somewhere between the founding of L'manberg to the end of the Manberg vs Pogtopia war. And I believe that it describes a sort of transfusion. There's not really any books about it, but given the context, I'm assuming it means that your spirit, or mind, would fuse with your past and sort of merge, or perhaps even override it completely, to where you were in your past body, but completely retained your current memories and thought processes," he explained quickly, knowing how short Tommy's attention span could be when it came to things that didn't interest him. There were many times where he - or rather Sam Nook - had to constantly remind Tommy that the hotel couldn't be built if he didn't go out and collect the resources that he had listed, even if it was a boring task. 

"Why are you telling us about this?" Tubbo asked, glancing between Sam and the portal cautiously. The look only served to sadden him even more, knowing all the hardships the two boys in front of him had to endure to react to something like this in such a way. 

"Honestly, I don't really want to tell you. I want to just ignore this portal and not let anyone come close to it. I have no idea what going through it will do to those who do and I don't know the psychological ramifications of going to the past even if it _did_ work. But, if anyone here truly understands the pain the past this server has brought and has ever wanted to change it more than anyone, it's you two. I feel like you guys have the right to know about this. And, even though I think you guys are just teens and shouldn't have to have any more on your plate... if this did somehow work... it's a way to possibly stop a lot of events from happening, like Wilbur dying, L'manberg being destroyed-"

"It could also stop Dream from ever being imprisoned!" Tommy shouted. Sam had thought about that and simply sighed.

"That's true, you guys going back and changing things might honestly make things worse. _I don't know._ I don't know what going back would do. Hell, I don't even know if this damn thing will actually send you back! I'm just going off some old books and tomes that happen to have these symbols and say it's what they mean. As this conversation continues, I'm just more and more tempted of blocking off the damn portal and never letting anyone go near it."

"But you don't want to do that, do you?" Tubbo finally asked. Sam sighed, rubbing his temples as he glanced back at the two teenagers in front of him and back at the portal.

"Quite frankly, I really don't. I really want there to be some chance that you guys could change the past and make things better for everyone here. I know a lot of us were hurt from the events that happened recently. If there's even the slimmest chance that we could keep those things from coming to fruition, I'd like to jump at it and take it up without thinking twice. But, as it stands. _If_ these readings are accurate at all. You two are really the only hope in making any difference in the past, because you were at the dead center of the major events during that time period." The two teens looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation before they finally nodded towards each other and turned back towards Sam. 

"We'll do it," Tubbo spoke firmly, determination lacing his voice. "You're right in the fact that we were at the center of events during that time, and really, we've always been at the center of things. Even if this all goes south and it doesn't actually send us to the past or we're deemed missing, no one knows that we came out here to meet you, so they won't be asking you for specifics. You can claim to know nothing about our disappearance."

"Tubbo-"

"No Sam, we're doing this. If there's any chance we can save Wilbur from becoming a wrongin' or from Techno destroying all of L'manberg with Dream, we have to take it," Tommy interrupted. He hadn't seen the two of them so grim and determined in a long time. Not even when facing Dream in that dreadful room to claim the disks back. No, they had just been fearful at the time, and in disbelief that anyone had come to their rescue. Sam hadn't really gotten to know them until recently, choosing to stay away from the L'manberg politics. But, he had heard that Tommy's discs had been given to Dream in exchange for L'manberg's freedom. That the two of them had fought in the war of independence against Dream SMP. He believed they had a similar look during those times. But, it didn't change the fact that they were children. They deserved better, and it seemed that they would be taking it into their own hands to make sure such things happened. 

God, he hated that fact.

"I see. Well, I don't think I could change either of your minds. So I'll ask this once before letting you go through, is there anyone you want to talk to before you leave? Any message you want me to give on the off chance that reality doesn't start suddenly rewriting itself?" They didn't even think before shaking their heads in denial. 

"It'd be harder to leave if we did something like that," Tubbo answered. 

"Well then, I suppose I should let you get going. And really, good luck you two. I think you'll need it with the time period you'll supposedly be going to." They nodded grimly and he stepped to the side, watching as they walked up to the portal. At the same time, they both took a simultaneous step upward, climbing into the green light, and within an instant, the two of them were gone. 

And within another, everything Sam ever knew changed.


	2. A Fated Election

Tommy blinked as the world around him came into focus. The first thing he noticed was that he was on the election podium with Wilbur at the mic, and the other presidential candidates standing to the side with their selected VP's. He glanced around, noticing just how young and innocent everyone looked, how alive Wilbur was. His gaze drifted towards the audience, landing directly onto Tubbo, who stared back at him. It was the weariness and dread that the dark haired boy unconsciously showed that told him that it had worked for both of them. They had both appeared in this moment. The fateful moment that would decide the set course of L'manberg. 

"-And with 50% of the vote, Pog2020 wins the election!" Tommy and Tubbo glanced at each other, eyes wide in shock. Pog2020 had only managed 45% of the vote in the last past, thus leading to the coalition winning with 46%. If that had changed even without them intervening, were they even in their past? Or did their presence even affect something decided before they traveled back? He didn't say anything however and simply grinned at Wilbur when he looked back at him, still standing to the side. He noticed Schlatt and Quackity scowl, talking quietly with each other, before they headed off the podium. Wilbur immediately went to making announcements and Tommy came to the realization that he was still the VP of L'manberg, something he didn't even want to be, yet Wilbur had instilled him as it. He knew from Tubbo's brief reign as presidency, he didn't make a good vice president. Hell, he hadn't even last a couple of months before he almost sent his nation into war and got exiled. 

God he did not want to think about that.

He couldn't be vice president. Who would think it was a good idea to make him someone in charge of keeping peace within a nation? All he knew was how to fight wars. He couldn't handle politics. But, he needed to save Wilbur, and being vice president was the best position to be in to do that. Maybe someone else could help him? He wasn't sure. There was a chance that he could possibly ask someone for help, but none of the others were there when Wilbur was losing his mind. So what would make them help him with his VP duties? 

"Come on Tommy, we have work to do." His throat went dry as Wilbur looked at him, an expectant look on his face. How would he had responded to this situation before everything? Would he have cursed Wilbur out and not gone? Would he had just gone without a fight? What the hell was he like before everything with Pogtopia, the festival, the final war against Manberg, exile, everything, what was he like before it all?

"Bitch, don't think you can boss me around." That was apparently the correct response because Wilbur just smirked, amusement clear in his eyes, and simply guided Tommy off the podium gently. It took all of Tommy's power to not flinch away from the touch, after all, when was the last time anyone had been gentle with him? But, he and Tubbo didn't know the ramifications of someone finding out that they had time traveled, so they had to keep people from questioning too much.

Speaking of Tubbo, he looked over and saw the older teen staring back at him in shock. They hadn't made solid plans for how they would make their new future better than the old one. What was to stop Techno from instilling ideas of anarchy into Wilbur? Would Techno even come to them this time around? After all, he had only came because Tommy had called on him to help overthrow the government. (Or was it to take a pet fish hostage? He couldn't remember. Things before his exile were all murky still. He had never really gained a clear recall of what happened before that time. But, he could remember more things than Ghostbur and no one seemed to ever noticed anything wrong, so he just assumed it wasn't too bad.) 

"Wilbur, can I talk to Tommy?" He hadn't even noticed Tubbo making his way over to the two of them. Wilbur quirked an eyebrow as he look between the two of them, however, he didn't question and simply released Tommy with a small chuckle.

"Here I was thinking you were going to congratulate me Tubbo. But, you always were closer with Tommy than the rest of us. Well, go ahead, I have some people to contact and plans to make, and I know Tommy definitely wouldn't want to be cooped up. Go on ahead." He ruffled their hair, a bit too roughly for Tommy's liking, but he couldn't tell if that was signs of Wilbur's madness setting in, or Tommy's own dislike of being touched after his exile. 

"Yeah... Sorry Wil, anyway, congratulations on your presidency! Tommy, come on, let's go." Tubbo grabbed Tommy's wrist and it was all he could do to not immediately retract from the grip. He knew Wilbur wasn't insane, that meant he would perceive things clearly, and would likely know something was wrong if Tommy pulled away from Tubbo. The two of them quickly passed by everyone standing around, heading for the wooden stairs that lead up to the hill where Tommy's house was. The house that he had been forced to give up as an embassy. The house that he has lost to Schlatt during his reign because of such actions. 

Everything was so barren. His house hadn't been 'remodeled' fifty times over. Ninja hadn't built a house on his property. There wasn't red egg vines covering the server. Tubbo paused and let go of Tommy's hand, taking in the differences as well. 

"We're really in the past," he muttered. That much should have already been apparent. But Tommy could understand Tubbo's shock. He was going through it as well after all. 

"Yeah... we are... but is this our past?" Tubbo looked over at him. "I know your thinking it too bitch! Come on... that- that- that wasn't our election! Pog2020 didn't fucking win! And we were _just_ fucking transported here, our presences shouldn't have changed that FUCKING MUCH SHIT!" Tommy began pacing, running his fingers through his hair roughly. It wasn't grown out and curly like it had been after exile. It was shorter, neatly kept, something Wilbur had always stressed. Of course the bastard ignored his own rules when he went off the deep end in Pogtopia and began growing out his own hair and not bothering to maintain it. Nor did he let Techno ever come near him to help him maintain it. He had never liked Techno. Not when they were younger and still living with Philza. Wilbur had always hated the fact that Techno got more attention than either of them. That he was forced to take care of Tommy. And eventually Tubbo when Phil found him in a cardboard box while traveling through unfamiliar woods. The man hid it well though. Tommy never had any clue how much he was annoyed by Techno when they were younger until one night he rambled on and on in one of his madness spiral. Tommy didn't know how Techno hadn't realized right then that Wilbur wasn't right in his head. Or maybe he had, and he just didn't care because it aligned with his own beliefs.

They were such a fucked up family.

"I know Tommy. But what the hell can we do besides go with it? We came back to stop all the bad things from happening. Schlatt winning the election and becoming president? That was a _very_ bad thing. We should be grateful that somehow that instance changed. But we still have to make sure Wilbur doesn't go crazy. And Dream still has your discs in this time period. Right now he believes he holds all the power because of those fucking discs. We need to figure out what we're going to do moving forward. Alright?" Tommy wanted to growl, to tell Tubbo he didn't want to listen to it. that things were clearly wrong. But, he remembered what he had been told before he had been exiled. He didn't think logically. Tubbo was using logic here and now. And that would help them get through their coming trials. 

"I- yeah- yeah, alright. Yeah. You're right. This is a good thing. But- we- we definitely need a plan or something. Things are clearly already fucking different in this past. We- we don't know what's going to happen from here on out Tubbo. We may not even have to do anything. But, Wilbur, I'd keep an eye on him. We have to keep him from becoming a wrongin'. And there's always a possibility Techno might come, and if he's anything like he was.... well, we might have to fight against him. And I- I really don't want to do that. I just want the family to be united once more you know?" Tubbo gave him a small smile and nodded.

"We'll figure it out, I know we will. After all, we managed to get your disks back from Dream, and I don't think anything could be even harder than that."

"This is just such a huge fucking mess Tubbo."

"I know."

"Why did we decide this was a good idea?"

"I don't know." 

"...Well, it looks like we can't do anything to change it. Unless we decide to run away like we speculated that one time on the bench."

"Maybe we should."

"Maybe."

They both knew that they wouldn't. That there was too much that they had to do for their friends and family to ever contemplate such a thing. But, as they both grinned at the idea of running away, it was clear that joking about such matters was definitely something they both needed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as of now, chapters will likely be on the shorter side, but likely to come out more often. I don't have any semblance of a upload schedule, sometimes they'll be everyday, sometimes they'll be once a month. It just kind of depends on how I'm feeling at the time. So, if you're wondering about short chapter lengths, that's the reason.


End file.
